Shawn McDonald
Google
I'm not one for leaving reviews, but as long as you learn from them, that is what matters most. I had dinner with an old friend tonight. We had not seen each other in almost 3 years. We were celebrating my birthday. I purposefully ordered a bottle of champagne before my friend arrived. When it was time, our waitress / bartender opened the bottle very inappropriately. I understand that in the course of service, not many people know how to properly open a bottle of champagne. However, there is a video on Google somewhere. I did give her feedback a little later. I digress. There were a few bar flies trying to partake in our champagne as well, which was annoying. I feel like the negative part of this review is from the simple fact that we felt hurried to order. We were enjoying each other's company, having a good time, and had ordered a nice bottle of Veuve Brut and an appetizer. The fried green tomatoes were solid. For dinner, my friend had the duck and I had fried chicken and a side of Mac-N-Cheese. There was much confusion by the staff about the duck. I think my friend, myself, and all staff could've had an open discussion about the duck, but that is not why we visited. Long story short, she did not like the flavor of the sauce and just wanted pasta tossed in something flavorful and duck re-plated without the sauce. Even I tried the sauce and it was very intense that it made me cough quite a bit. Moving on from the 1/2 duck that was way too pricey for what it was. The fried chicken was delicious, tender and juicy on the inside and perfect crisp on the outside. The plating seemed wrong because they spread the potatoes so thin on the plate that they were barely warm when they got to the table. If that was gravy on the plate, I've never had worse cream gravy. The mac-n-cheese was excellent. I even got bread pudding to go...which was amazing as well. I will say that being in the industry as a sommelier, manager, and server (with almost 30 yrs of food service), that there was NEVER a discussion about whether or not everything was delicious and prepared well with a manager. The duck was missing maybe two bites, and I don't even think it was offered to be boxed up. However, it was left on the bill and not even discounted. Nothing was offered to me for my birthday. All in all, the entire visit of two hours just felt uncomfortable and lackluster. We just wanted a great experience for two people at $280.37. The worst part is that the receipt gave options of how to tip properly. This was almost as tacky as having to sign a handheld device (which they didn't do, thank God). So, negative review, of course. I might be back, but first impressions are usually the best ones. There is something to learn here, and it is MAKE SURE YOUR GUESTS LEAVE HAPPY.